D. Ambrosii episcopi Mediolanensis, commentarii in omnes diui Pauli epistolas, ex restitutione Desiderii Erasmi Roterodami diligenter recogniti. Adiecta est autem nouiter inuenta ad hebraeos epistola, eiusdem autoris commentariis illustrata. Psal CXVIII.
Antverpiae, apud Joan. Steelsium, 1540.
12mo, contemporary Antwerp binding, full brown blindstamped calf, spine with 4 raised bands, traces of ties. 8 unnumbered leaves (of which the title), 406 numbered leaves. Fine woodcut printer’s mark on verso of last leaf. Complete.
Rare edition given by Erasmus and a good specimen of 16thC. Flemish binding.
An early commentary on the writings of the apostle Paul. The work had been attributed to St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, who died in 397; however, in 1527, Erasmus questioned Ambrose’s authorship, and his considered verdict has since been widely accepted by scholars. As doubt surrounds the commentary’s authorship, the name Ambrosiaster, or Pseudo-Ambrosius, is used. The manuscript attributed to Ambrosiaster offers no hint as to its author. Internal evidence suggests the commentary was written during the pontificate of Damascus (AD 366-384). The biblical quotations predate the Latin Vulgate; additionally, the referencing of ecclesiastical writers such as Tertullian, Cyprian, and Victorinus also supports the mid- to late-fourth-century dating. Adding further confusion to the question of authorship, Augustine credited portions of the commentary on Paul’s letter to the Romans to Sanctus Hilarius. Considered one of the outstanding Dominican scholars of his time, Sixtus Senensis, or Sixtus of Siena, described the Commentaria in Epistolas Beati Pauli as “brief in words, but weighty in matter.” Regardless of authorship, the Commentaria was hailed by scholars such as Augustine and Jerome for the quality of its exegesis.
Ref. Adams, A-945 / Pettegree & Walsby, Netherlandish Books: Books published in the Low Countries and Dutch books published abroad before 1601, (2011), 908 / GotQuestions.org
